


Penny's Present

by EdgarAllanCat



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Birthday Presents, Drabble, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, this was a request based on a very vague prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-17 13:15:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11276031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdgarAllanCat/pseuds/EdgarAllanCat
Summary: After forgetting Quentin's birthday Penny struggles to find a proper gift in time





	Penny's Present

“Are you coming tonight?”

                Penny looked up from his book to see Eliot leaning against the tree, a cigarette dangling lazily from between his fingers. It was bad enough that Penny had to deal with The Physical Kids when he wanted to see Quentin, they didn’t have to follow him around. “Is that some kind of innuendo or some shit? I never know with you.”

                Eliot hummed and took a drag off his cigarette as though he had to ponder the answer. “It could be,” he said and looked down at Penny.

                “I don’t know if you’re trying to flirt with me right now or somehow flirt with Quentin through me.”

                “Por que no los dos?”

                “That’s not even….” Penny shook his head and looked away from Eliot, wondering how no one had killed that kid yet. “Go away.”

                If only it were that easy to get Eliot to go away. Instead he regarded Penny curiously, as though there was something very strange and amusing about his existence in general. “So…you aren’t coming to Quentin’s birthday party tonight?”

                Penny slammed his book closed and stood up, putting on his best glare. “No, I’m not coming to Quen—wait, what’d you say?” Okay, he must have misheard Eliot.  There was no way it was Quentin’s birthday. Was it?

                “Oh dear,” Eliot said with faux concern. “I guess you really won’t be _coming_ tonight after all. Forgetting your boyfriend’s birthday? “ He shook his head as though deeply disappointed in Penny’s performance as a boyfriend, which really just succeed in making his face look incredibly punchable.

                If Penny was going to get any information out of this little brat then he needed to not resort immediately to violence. Besides that, he really didn’t want to get into a fight in the quad with someone who was some kind of magical genius. “It’s seriously Quentin’s birthday,” he asked, hoping to god he was wrong.

                “No, I’m telling you it’s Quentin’s birthday to make you panic. Penny, do you even know what day it is?”

                “That’s not fair.” Time here was weird. Nothing was…it just wasn’t right and Penny had a tendency to lose track of the day and even the month sometimes. Time was different, seasons were different, it was hard to keep up with. That didn’t matter. All that mattered was that apparently it was Quentin’s birthday and Penny had no idea. “Well, what’d you get him?”

                “I made him cake. Chocolate. It’s an aphrodisiac. Plus all the other aphrodisiacs in the cake. The magical kind. You’re welcome for that.”  Looking Penny over Eliot scoffed. “Don’t tell me you’re having trouble thinking of a gift to get Quentin.  Come on now, that’s the easiest part off all this.”

                “No…”

                “Quentin is easy, Penny. Jesus. You are so lucky you have me right now. Come now, Daddy Eliot will help.”

                “I swear to god if you ever, and I mean _ever_ , call yourself ‘Daddy Eliot’ and my ears have to hear it I will knock your crooked teeth right out of your big mouth.

                If the threat in any way affected Eliot he sure as hell didn’t act like it. He sat himself down on the ground and motioned for Penny to follow. Once Penny was seated Eliot took a flask from his pocket, offering it out. “Calm down, you can fix this. Honestly, you’re overreacting. You forgot, big deal, Quentin never has to know.  You’ve got time to fix it. Now, what does Quentin like?”

                Okay, maybe he wouldn’t have to punch Eliot.  Penny took a drink from the flask, the whisky burning his throat but calming him down a little. He wanted to say that he wasn’t overreacting but he really didn’t want to get another condescending look from Eliot. “I don’t know? He likes books…and me?”

                “Justin Timberlake has this song and I think it really applies to your situ—“

                “No,” Penny said immediately. Eliot was an antonym for helpful.   “Look, he’s into weird shit. He reads the same books over and over again. He’s dating _me_. He does magic tricks. And not, like, the real kind. Like the kind that people do on the street and shit. Vegas Magic. It’s stupid. He does stupid shit and likes stupid things.”

                “Obviously,” Eliot drawled as he crushed his cigarette on the ground. “Well. Best of luck you. I’m sure you’ll figure out something.”

                That was it?  Eliot was just going to walk away and leave Penny to figure this out on his own? “Wait a second! I…what the fuck do I get Quentin?”

                Eliot rolled his eyes. “It’s Quentin. Honestly, he’d be trilled if you gave him an empty plastic bag. Seriously, don’t overthink it. Just go into the city and find something. You’ve got eight hours. I’m sure you can figure something out by then. And if not, oh well, Quentin will live without a gift from his boyfriend. Or he’ll dump you. Either way, it’ll be interesting to watch.”

\--

                Penny wracked his brain for hours trying to figure out something that Quentin would actually like. It shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. It should have been easy to find a simple gift. He should have been able to walk into a store and find something that reminded him of Quentin. But this wasn’t just any gift. It was a birthday present and that meant that it had to be special. Penny had never bought anyone a birthday present before. He’d never had anyone he cared about enough to buy them a birthday present. There weren’t a lot of things in the world that mattered to Penny, but this did. This was actually important and he wanted to get Quentin something that would make him happy.  Something that would make Quentin smile in that stupid, goofy way Penny loved.

                But there was nothing. Penny wandered in an out of stores, his heart sinking lower every time the door dinged on his way out. He kicked his way through the slush on the streets, disappointment already settling deep in his stomach. Maybe it was just that stores didn’t sell things that were good enough for Quentin.  Maybe there wasn’t anything you could buy that could express how you felt about someone.

                Then he saw it. It was sitting up in the window of a pawn shop like a beacon of hope. It almost felt like fate that he should stumble upon it at all. Penny looked through the glass, his reflection smiling back at him. It was so perfect, so Quentin, and joy rushed through Penny. The price didn’t matter. Not only because Penny now had access to basically unlimited funds, but because he would have gladly traded a kidney for the gift. Quentin was going to be ecstatic.

\--

                Parties at the Physical Kid’s cottage were always…extra. By the time Penny got there music was already blaring at a volume that shook the walls and almost everyone was walking around with a creative cocktail. A banner hung over the doorway. Two red dragons swam through the white paper before each blowing fire. When the fire faded black, glittering lettering remained that spelled out ‘Happy Birthday Quentin’. It was so completely stupid that Penny was pretty sure it was impossible to roll his eyes any harder.

                Quentin was standing beneath the sign, looking up at it with a mixture of awe and confusion. For a few moments Penny paused, just admiring the scenery that was Quentin.  He always looked so cute when he thought no one could see him. His head was cocked slightly to the left as he watched the dragons and his fingers drummed rhythmically against the side of his glass.  One hand went up, brushing through his hair as he turned away, spotting Penny. For a moment, Quentin paused and then weaved through the crowd to get to his boyfriend, lips curving into a smile.

                “Hey,” Quentin said, looking back over at the banner. “This was…a surprise. I was really not prepared for this at all.”

                Did he really just expect people to forget his birthday? Something about that made Penny’s heart hurt. Okay, yeah, sure, he had forgotten, but not everyone was going to forget. “Yeah, well, I guess you’re important or something. Lemme see that.” He didn’t wait for Quentin to offer him a drink, he just took Quentin’s glass and almost gagged. Whatever Quentin was drinking was sickly sweet. 

                “Sorry, Eliot made it. He, um, he always makes me things that taste like candy. I can get you something if you want. Um, you like….” Quentin closed his eyes as though mentally running through his brain to remember, “you like Jack, right?”

                “I’m fine. I’ll get something later. Oh, and if Eliot offers you any cake don’t eat it.” He put his hands into his pockets, fingertips brushing the tip of Quentin’s gift.  Oh, no way in hell was he getting nervous now. What if Quentin hated it? Why was giving gifts so stressful?

                Quentin took another drink, looked to the banner, and then back to Penny. “Can I…say something a little weird?”

                “Everything you say is weird.”

                “Okay, yeah, fair. Never mind.”

                Penny rolled his eyes. “I like the weird shit you say. But…I got something to say first. Well, not really say. Here.” He took the bag from his pocket and all but threw it at Quentin. “It doesn’t matter or anything but…happy birthday.”

                The gift wasn’t wrapped, it was still in the paper bag from the pawn shop. That didn’t seem to bother Quentin at all. He smiled slightly and looked up at Penny. “You didn’t have to. It’s—“

                “Just open it, okay?”

                “Okay.” Quentin carefully opened the top and pulled out the small card.

                Penny watched Quentin’s reaction. His eyes widened as he looked at the ace of spades in his hand. His mouth opened and closed several times , making him look very much like a fish. He seemed to struggle for words, but he didn’t need them. The disappointment was evident on his face as he turned the card over in his hands, refusing to look directly at the autograph as though seeing it would curse him.

                “Criss Angel,” he said, clearing his throat. “Wow, Penny it’s…it’s great. I mean, it’s fantastic. Criss Angel. Um, he’s…he sure is…alive.”

                Penny’s heart sank into his stomach and he let his shoulders drop. He’d fucked up, completely. Quentin liked magic and Criss Angel did magic, but apparently there was something that Penny had missed. Maybe he just really sucked at buying gifts. “You hate it.”

                Quentin looked up, wide eyed, and shook his head. “No, no, I mean…you obviously put a lot of thought into it. And Criss Angel is…Penny he’s the worst magician ever. I mean, he created a character for himself and a whole brand around camera angles. He’s not even doing real magic. He basically fakes street magic and once you start using a planted audience and relying on clever camera angles you stop being a magician.”

                So, Penny had fucked up. Maybe if he’d paid a bit more attention to Quentin when he was rambling about magic then he would have known this. He’d forgotten Quentin’s birthday and he’d managed  to get exactly the wrong thing. If he didn’t fix this then he was going to win the award for Worst Boyfriend.  “You know what? Maybe if I can’t get you a gift then I should just give you a gift,” he said, deciding on the best course of action.

                “Um…” Quentin raised his brow. “Penny, that…that doesn’t really make sense.”

                “Shut up and give me your arm.”

                “No…what’re you going to do?”

                Sighing, Penny reached out and grabbed Quentin’s arm and pulled him close. “Just…shut up, alright?” Holding Quentin with one hand Penny worked quickly with his other hand to untie a bracelet from his wrist. It was one of his favourites and his arm felt a little naked without the leather and copper covering it. He pushed his other bracelets down, but that didn’t stop him from feeling like a part of himself was missing. “I got this one in Maine a while back. It’s, uh, it’s stupid. It doesn’t mean anything but…but it means something.” He tied it onto Quentin’s scrawny wrist, adjusting it and making sure it didn’t fall off. Somehow, it looked better on Quentin.

                The disappointment faded from Quentin’s face and there was a glow in his eyes. He blinked several times and reached down, running his hands along the leather string and the glass beads. His fingers stopped and carefully washed over the copper penny tied into the bracelet. “It’s a penny,” he said, grinning. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”

                Okay, maybe Penny didn’t suck quite so bad at getting gifts. Maybe Quentin just wanted weird things. And maybe Penny had been overthinking the present a bit. Reaching down he took Quentin by the chin, kissing him lightly as a way to say ‘you’re welcome’. “Anyway, happy birthday,” he whispered, his hands brushing through Quentin’s soft hair.

                Quentin’s face fell and he looked down. “Penny…I have to tell you something. It’s, um…it’s not my birthday.”

                “It’s not what?”

                “It’s not my birthday. I have no idea why any of this is happening, actually. Eliot told me just to go with it? And Margo said it’d be hilarious.”

                Penny paused before scanning over the party, spotting Eliot behind the bar. “Hold that thought, Quentin, I’ve got to go punch Eliot in his stupid face.”

                Quentin grabbed Penny’s arm, pulling him back and keeping him out of a fight that he would have probably lost. “Let’s…let’s not punch Eliot in the face right now, okay? I mean, it’s not my birthday so…do you want you bracelet back?”

                “No, I gave it to you,” Penny said as though it were obvious. “I mean, it’s not your birthday, I guess, apparently, but…I still want you to have it. I’ve never had anybody to give shit to and…I like how it looks on you. So just…shut up and wear it, okay?”

                Without warning Quentin wrapped his arms around Penny’s neck, hugging him tight. “This is the best not-birthday I’ve ever had,” he whispered and gently kissed Penny again. “You made it really great.”


End file.
